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Cottage Grove City Council member Myron Bailey had grown a bit weary lately of the same old question from friends, family and acquaintances: "Are you running for mayor?" Saturday, Bailey decided to put an end to the speculation and became the first to throw his proverbial hat in the ring for the 2008 mayoral race, announcing his candidacy and saying in an e-mail he has "the leadership, vision, passion, and the abilities to move into this new role on the City Council." Bailey, first elected to city council in 2004, declared his candidacy three days after current Mayor Sandy Shiely announced s

The following is a summary of action that took place at the Jan. 2 Cottage Grove City Council meeting: Absent: All were present. 2008 City Council appointments: Cottage Grove City Council members approved Mayor Sandy Shiely's 2008 council appointments to a number of commissions and committees Wednesday night at the city's first meeting of 2008. Councilmember Pat Rice was approved as Mayor Pro Tem -- or acting mayor, in place of an absent Shiely -- Planning Commission, South Washington County Telecommunications Commission and the Investment Committee.

Americans face a wide-open presidential race in 2008, and Mayor Sandy Shiely just made sure residents will have an unpredictable election closer to home, too. Shiely announced Wednesday she will not seek re-election in November, choosing to step aside after eight years as mayor and six more as a city council member. "It's not that I don't love this job, because I do," the retired English teacher told council members and city staff at Wednesday night's council meeting.

It was a Cottage Grove landmark -- whether the city liked it or not -- and after 21 years in business under three different guises The Rush nightclub closed its doors last month, a victim of mistakes made by former managers, the club's most recent boss said. Brian DeCoux, manager since late-October of the once popular country nightclub, paced the familiar floors of the empty bar last week, reminiscing about his days as a doorman in 2001 and the watering hole's heyday when it was known as Rodeo. But a 2004 name change and the altered identity that followed helped bring about the club's closin

Officials at Yeshiva High School of the Twin Cities are finding these days generosity knows almost no bounds -- financial nor religious. The Cottage Grove Orthodox Jewish school suffered a major blow in late September when thieves made off with its decades-old Torah, a 2-foot-tall, painstakingly handwritten scroll. The school set up a fund to replace the Torah, donated to Yeshiva when it opened its doors in 2006, but the task looked daunting -- roughly $50,000 would be needed to replace the scroll. But nearly three months later, things are looking up for Yeshiva.

The ex-boyfriend of a 19-year-old St. Paul Park woman slain last week was charged in Hennepin County Wednesday with allegedly murdering the mother of his young child. 21-year-old Zachery Otis Matthews of St. Paul was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Kristine Catheryn Larson, the woman found strangled in a burning car on Minneapolis' east side last Wednesday. Larson's family last week said the recent graduate of the Alternative Learning Center in Cottage Grove was on her way to Matthews' residence to pick up their son when she was last seen on Dec. 19.

A 19-year-old St. Paul Park mother was found dead, left in a burning car Wednesday in Minneapolis. Kristine Catheryn Larson was discovered shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday night, Minneapolis police said, when the fire department and officers responded to reports of what they called a "suspicious vehicle fire" on the city's east side. While extinguishing the flaming car, they found the young woman inside, strangled. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Larson was last seen Wednesday afternoon, said her sister, Michelle Sveiven, and had been on her way to St.

Absent: All were present. Street light policy: The City Council unanimously adopted a city street lighting policy, intended to put on paper what has in the past been an unwritten conglomeration of engineering principles and past practice. The policy calls for 250-foot spacing between street lights in new developments. According to a staff engineering report, fill-in lighting to meet the standards in existing areas would be done on a prioritized basis and paid through the City Street Light Utility Fund.

They're loud. They disturb. And Newport is saying no more. They are known as Jake Brakes -- or more technically, compression or engine retardant brakes, used by semitrailer trucks. And boy, do they make a racket. "There's always been that kind of issue in Newport because we have steep bluffs and steep hills," city administrator Larry Bodahl said.

The Cottage Grove City Council is set to vote on its 2008 operating budget and 2007 tax levy (collected in 2008) at its meeting Wednesday night. There will be an open forum starting at 7:15 p.m., and the meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Cottage Grove City Hall, located at 7516 80th Street South.